In Sickness and Health, For Better or Worse
by Kayla the kawaii gurl
Summary: They took care of each other in sickness and in health. They were there for each other for better or worse. A collection of one-shots where Natsu and Lucy live out these vows even though they aren't married... yet.


KTKG Says: I'm only going to say this once: I do NOT own Fairy Tail!

**In Sickness, Part I**

Brown eyes scanned around the guild for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. Not finding what they were looking for, the eyebrows above them scrunched down in worry.

"Where could he be?" The question was mumbled quietly, not quite reaching the white-haired woman behind the bar. The worried brown eyes however didn't go completely unnoticed.

"Something wrong Lucy?"

Lucy Heartfilia sighed; her attempt at being discreet hadn't worked in her favor. "Nothing much, just… have you seen Natsu?" She tried not to sound so desperate but the truth was this wasn't like her partner and best friend to not show. Usually he was already here waiting for her in the morning, not the other way around. Maybe he had already been here and she missed him? "Sorry sweetie, I can't say that I have."

Both women glanced at the clock in the corner and frowned simultaneously. The large golden hands told them that it was a quarter past eleven. Lucy's frown deepened on her face. This definitely wasn't like Natsu. Unless…

"LUSHIIIIIIII!"

A blue fur ball came barreling through the guild doors and slammed straight into Lucy's chest, almost knocking her off her bar stool. "Happy! What's wrong?" The smell of burnt hair invaded her nostrils so she pulled the feline away from her, holding him at arm's length to get a good look at him.

His blue fur was slightly singed in places, one of his whiskers smoking slightly at the end. His huge eyes were glassy with unshed tears and his tiny chest was heaving from exertion from his speedy flight. The conclusion Lucy came up with was the obvious. Something was wrong and it involved Natsu.

"N-Natsu!" He took a couple of breaths before continuing, "He's… he's sick!"

She almost dropped the cat in surprise. Natsu was sick? A gasp beside her caused her to turn to the barmaid who wore the same shocked expression. "Mira?" The barmaid shook her head slightly, her hands clutched to her chest. "Poor Natsu! Happy, how's the house?"

Lucy's eyes widened instantly. _How's the house_? What the hell kind of question was that? "It's still standing if that's what you mean." Lucy did not like the answer that Happy gave. Something wasn't right with this line of questioning. "Mira, he's sneezing a lot! I don't know what to do!" Lucy gave the Exceed that was now perched in her lap a confused gaze as she followed along with the conversation. So he was sneezing a lot, how bad could that be? It wasn't like he had allergies (that she knew of), so that meant he had to have a cold. The thought made her sigh.

Only Natsu could catch a cold in the middle of summer.

Her attention was drawn back to the bar as Mira ran off to get something, more than likely some form of medication. Happy fidgeted in her lap, causing Lucy to place a hand between his ears and rub. The situation couldn't actually be that bad. Happy was probably just worried about his adoptive dad. After all, it was a rarity that the dragon slayer ever got sick.

"Here, Happy."

She looked up to see Mira had returned with a packet in her hand, presenting it to the animal in her lap. "This should help to calm his sneezing down as well as decongest him." The cat took it and instantly turned to look up at Lucy who had to stifle a groan. She knew what that look meant. For added affect, the Exceed mumbled out a pitiful "please?" Ugh.

"Fine, fine, FINE! I'll go with you and help. Besides, with your tiny arms you'd probably spill more medicine than you'd actually administer." Happy gave her a toothy smile as she rose from her spot and followed him out of the guild. She turned to thank Mirajane and wave her good-bye as she sighed to herself and continued on towards Natsu's house. All he probably had was a cold, it wasn't like he was dying or anything.

Really, how hard could it be?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Apparently, she had entered a war zone.

Stepping over the Dragneel's threshold, Lucy took back everything she had been thinking earlier. This task looked a hell of a lot harder than she had originally though, and the sad thing was she hadn't even seen Natsu yet! The house, which was normally trashed, looked like a bomb had gone off and she was standing in ground zero. There were scorch marks everywhere; on the walls, one on the ceiling, on half of the couch, and not to mention across the coffee table.

Following a trail to the back of the house where the bedrooms were she found more marks on the floor and along the walls. She was just about to step into Natsu's room when she heard a sneeze that was followed by a huge fireball, which thankfully she jumped out of the way of in time. Placing a hand over her racing heart, she took the time to calm herself down as she listened to Happy clanging around in the kitchen. So, that's where those marks came from.

Peeking around the doorframe, she looked inside the room to find a huge lump on the bed against the window. The only sign she had to tell her that it was indeed Natsu buried under the covers was the tuff of pink hair that managed to stick out one end along with a tan arm that was hanging out and off the side of the bed. Well, that and the fireball that almost burned her eyebrows off. Just to make sure, she ran a hand down across her forehead. Good, they were still there.

Turning around quickly, she headed for the kitchen in case the Salamander decided to give a repeat performance and actually succeed in burning something on her off. Once there, she couldn't help but smile at the flying cat as he attempted to gather things to make tea. "Relax Happy, I got it." The cat visibly relaxed and settled down on the counter, letting out of sigh of relief. "Are you sure Lucy?"

She nodded and shooed the animal into the living room, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the place around her. As usual, it was a complete mess. The boys had managed to get the place in the same condition it was when she had called herself breaking in for the first time. Well, it looked like her work was cut out for her.

Rolling up her non-exisitant sleeves (she was wearing a t-shirt), she set to work starting Natsu's tea while gathering all the dirty dishes together. She looked over her shoulder as she did a quick sweep of the kitchen while the water boiled on the stove and spotted Happy napping on the couch. A smile reached her lips at the sight but faded as she took in the mess around her.

This was going to be a long day.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Natsu shuffled his was through the hallway into the living room, a yawn ripping through him strong enough to crack his jaw. Scratching his stomach he maneuvered into his kitchen in search of food.

He had had the strangest dream. It was so vivid he could have sworn it was real. Lucy had been in it (as she was in most of his dreams) and had used her power over him to get him to drink some vial tasting tea with one of her puppy dog looks. Smacking his lips a couple of times he swore he could still taste the crap in his mouth. Ugh, maybe he just needed to brush his teeth.

Taking a deep breath he reveled in the fact that he could actually _breathe_. He was no longer congested and hadn't sneezed in hours. Man, he was feeling awesome. He took another deep satisfying deep breath and paused instantly when something caught his attention.

His house smelled… clean.

Waking completely out of his sleep and sickness-induced haze, he looked around his kitchen to find that it was in fact _clean_. Turning around, he looked out from his spot to the living room to find everything had been picked up and put away, the surfaces of his dining and coffee tables gleaming in the moon light. Sniffing again he caught his favorite scent of Night Blooming Jasmine with vanilla and felt a smile creep across his face.

So he hadn't been dreaming after all.

His sharp eyes picked up the shape of a mass on his couch in the darkness. Putting his ninja skills to work he moved slowly, not wanting to wake the woman up. He froze when something moved suddenly, sitting up before settling back down. Finally he approached the couch only to find Lucy curled on her side fast asleep. Happy lay curled up in the crook of her knees, his head resting on her thigh as a slight snore escaped him.

Chuckling to himself, Natsu carefully pulled Happy out of his resting place, shushing him as a protesting whine was emitted from the little fur ball. Placing him on the opposite side of her legs, Natsu got to work gathering up the sleeping celestial mage in his arms bridal style. Once he was sure he had a secure hold on her he set about waking the blue feline.

"Happy, wake up buddy."

Happy stirred a bit before turning to crack an eye open to look in Natsu's general direction. "Come on buddy, let's go to bed." Sleepily the feline nodded in agreement before floating up and settling down atop Natsu's head. He then began the trek back to his room.

"Ne, Natsu… are you feeling better?"

"Hai, a little better."

Finally reaching the bedroom, Natsu made his way over to the bed and settled Lucy down on the comforter. Plucking Happy from atop his head, he set him down at the foot of the bed and watched as he settled in before climbing in himself. He froze when Lucy shifted a bit but relaxed as soon as he heard her release a contented sight. When he was sure she was fast asleep, he carefully wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his chest.

Taking in a deep breath of her scent, Natsu felt his whole body relax. While it was true that he was feeling better, the slight pounding in his head told him he still wasn't one hundred percent. The scent of the woman in his arms helped to ease it a bit however and he couldn't help burying his nose in her head to get another lung-full of it.

He felt the aches in his body ease a bit and couldn't stop himself from slipping back into dreamland. While the tea she had gave him helped him a great deal, he knew that laying here like this with her, and Happy, as a little family was a much better medicine for him. Tightening his arm around her and slipping his chilled feet under Happy's warm, furry body he took one last breath and released himself to sleep.

Man, this was _so_ worth the beating he was going to get as soon as she woke up.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

KTKG Says: OMG the FLUFF! I've been on a fluff kick lately. I've been thinking and dreaming so much fluff that it's fluffing ridiculous! Anyways, this will be a collection of one-shots, so please, review and let me know what you think! The more reviews I get the faster they'll come out! (Oh my, am I ever the review whore) Thanks for reading!


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